Mothers Deserve Better: Why We’re Building Evidence-Led Maternal Health Innovation
Why Maternal Health in the UK Must Change
We all know the maternal health picture in the UK isn’t where it needs to be. Recent developments, including the UK maternal health inquiry, have brought renewed attention to the fact that outcomes for mothers during pregnancy and postnatally are falling short.
While the government continues to signal its commitment to improving maternal health, what mothers urgently need is action grounded in evidence, innovation, and support that actually works.
Innovation Funding: The Reality Behind Building Change
If you’re a business owner in the innovation space, you’ll be familiar with the reality of research and development funding. It’s relentless and often frustrating.
Innovate UK grants are transformative when secured, but they are also highly competitive. Last year, we applied for a major SBRI women’s health grant and were unsuccessful.
This highlights a familiar catch-22:
To secure large-scale funding, you need robust research proving the market need
To fund the research that proves the need, you need funding
It’s a cycle that stalls progress particularly in women’s and maternal health.
A Breakthrough Moment: Turning Research Into Reality
So when Creative Futures at 1 Mill Street awarded us a smaller research grant, I was genuinely over the moon 🎉.
That grant allowed us to:
Finalise research objectives
Secure ethics approval
Move from theory into action
After months of groundwork, our maternal health research is officially live.
Why Digital Maternity Care Still Falls Short
If you’re a mum in the UK, your maternity experience likely depended on where you gave birth.
With my first two babies, I had the familiar purple maternity notes. With my youngest (now two), everything moved onto the Badger Notes app. Like many mothers, I assumed this digital shift was standard across England but it isn’t.
Digital maternity notes were a step in the right direction:
Shared access for mothers and healthcare teams
Centralised results and records
Improved continuity when moving between trusts
But in reality, gaps remain. Fragmentation persists. Support is limited. And despite early conversations about digital transition more than eight years ago during my NHS career, the system still hasn’t fully caught up.
What This Maternal Health Research Is Exploring
This research is designed to explore the effectiveness of digital health interventions in improving maternal health and wellbeing.
At its core, it asks a simple but vital question, are mothers receiving preventative, personalised, and timely support in one connected place? We know the gap exists. Mothers feel it. Clinicians see it. But to drive system-level change, secure innovation funding, and build technology that truly works for women and families, we need the evidence to show it.
Why This Research Matters for Matresa
The findings from this research will directly shape Matresa.
They will help us:
Build evidence-led solutions
Iterate responsibly
Scale with credibility and impact
And yes this research also unlocks pathways to larger grants, enabling us to transform maternal healthcare at a national level.
Why Now? The Wider Impact of Failing Mothers
Maternity provision in the UK is under growing pressure. As explored in previous editions of The Maternal Shift, this is not a collection of isolated problems, it is a systemic issue with far-reaching consequences.
Consider the data:
Up to 74,000 women each year in the UK lose their jobs due to pregnancy, maternity leave, or return to work, a 37% increase since 2016
Fewer than one in five new mothers return to full-time work after childbirth
Only 44% of women who worked full-time before birth are back in full-time roles three years later
Many mothers experience the long-term “motherhood penalty”, affecting earnings, promotions, and career progression
What This Means in Real Terms
For Mothers
Without consistent, personalised support during pregnancy and postnatally, maternal health, confidence, and the ability to remain in or return to work are compromised.
For Businesses
Valuable talent is lost or under-utilised. Teams lose continuity. Recruitment and training costs rise. Diversity of thought and experience is diminished.
For the Wider Economy
When thousands of women exit or downshift in the workforce each year, productivity, growth, and innovation suffer impacting the entire economy.
Listening to Mothers: How the Research Works
We are diving deep into mothers’ real experiences of pregnancy and postnatal care focusing on health, wellbeing, and the support they did (or didn’t) receive.
Our approach includes:
A national survey delivered via Prolific
In-depth interviews with mothers who feel comfortable sharing more
Intentional outreach to diverse communities, locations, and backgrounds
This ensures the research reflects many voices, not just one type of maternal experience.
Take Part in the Research
If you are a mum in the UK and would like to contribute to this research, we would love to hear from you.
Complete the survey here
By sharing your experience, you are helping to build the evidence needed to improve maternal health support for future generations.
Building a Better Future for Mothers
Mothers deserve better, better care, better systems, and better outcomes.
This research is a critical step in building preventative, personalised maternal health infrastructure that supports women not just during pregnancy, but throughout motherhood.
And we’re only just getting started.